Bean variety rs 08061277

ABSTRACT

The invention provides seed and plants of the bean line designated RS 08061277. The invention thus relates to the plants, seeds and tissue cultures of bean line RS 08061277, and to methods for producing a bean plant produced by crossing a plant of bean line RS 08061277 with itself or with another bean plant, such as a plant of another line. The invention further relates to seeds and plants produced by such crossing. The invention further relates to parts of a plant of bean line RS 08061277, including the pods and gametes of such plants.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of plant breeding and, morespecifically, to the development of bean line RS 08061277.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The goal of crop breeding is to combine various desirable traits in asingle variety/hybrid. Such desirable traits may include greater yield,resistance to insects or pests, tolerance to heat and drought, betteragronomic quality, higher nutritional value, growth rate and fruit orpod properties.

Breeding techniques take advantage of a plant's method of pollination.There are two general methods of pollination: a plant self-pollinates ifpollen from one flower is transferred to the same or another flower ofthe same plant or plant variety. A plant cross-pollinates if pollencomes to it from a flower of a different plant variety.

Plants that have been self-pollinated and selected for type over manygenerations become homozygous at almost all gene loci and produce auniform population of true breeding progeny, a homozygous plant. A crossbetween two such homozygous plants of different varieties produces auniform population of hybrid plants that are heterozygous for many geneloci. Conversely, a cross of two plants each heterozygous at a number ofloci produces a population of hybrid plants that differ genetically andare not uniform. The resulting non-uniformity makes performanceunpredictable.

The development of uniform varieties requires the development ofhomozygous inbred plants, the crossing of these inbred plants, and theevaluation of the crosses. Pedigree breeding and recurrent selection areexamples of breeding methods that have been used to develop inbredplants from breeding populations. Those breeding methods combine thegenetic backgrounds from two or more plants or various other broad-basedsources into breeding pools from which new lines are developed byselfing and selection of desired phenotypes. The new lines are evaluatedto determine which of those have commercial potential.

One crop species which has been subject to such breeding programs and isof particular value is garden bean (Phaseolus vulgaris (snap)). Beansare annual, warm-season legumes. Garden beans, also known as greenbeans, snap beans, or pole beans, are grown primarily for their pods,which are harvested for consumption in their succulent form, whereas drybeans (Phaseolus vulgaris (dry)), lima beans (Phaseolus limensis), andsoybeans (Glycine max) are usually grown for the seed itself. Inaddition, the bean leaf is occasionally used as a leaf vegetable, andthe straw is used for fodder.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect, the present invention provides a bean plant of the beanline designated RS 08061277. Also provided are bean plants having allthe physiological and morphological characteristics of bean line RS08061277. Parts of the bean plant of the present invention are alsoprovided, for example, including pollen, an ovule, a pod, and a cell ofthe plant.

The invention also concerns seed of bean line RS 08061277. The bean seedof the invention may be provided as an essentially homogeneouspopulation of bean seed of the line designated RS 08061277. Essentiallyhomogeneous populations of seed are generally free from substantialnumbers of other seed. Therefore, in one embodiment, seed of line RS08061277 may be defined as forming at least about 97% of the total seed,including at least about 98%, 99%, or more of the seed. The populationof bean seed may be particularly defined as being essentially free fromhybrid seed. The seed population may be separately grown to provide anessentially homogeneous population of bean plants designated RS08061277.

In another aspect of the invention, a plant of bean line RS 08061277comprising an added heritable trait is provided. The heritable trait maycomprise a genetic locus that is, for example, a dominant or recessiveallele. In one embodiment of the invention, a plant of bean line RS08061277 is defined as comprising a single locus conversion. In specificembodiments of the invention, an added genetic locus confers one or moretraits such as, for example, herbicide tolerance, insect resistance,disease resistance, and modified carbohydrate metabolism. In furtherembodiments, the trait may be conferred by a naturally occurring geneintroduced into the genome of the line by backcrossing, a natural orinduced mutation, or a transgene introduced through genetictransformation techniques into the plant or a progenitor of any previousgeneration thereof. When introduced through transformation, a geneticlocus may comprise one or more genes integrated at a single chromosomallocation.

In another aspect of the invention, a tissue culture of regenerablecells of a plant of line RS 08061277 is provided. The tissue culturewill preferably be capable of regenerating plants capable of expressingall of the physiological and morphological characteristics of the line,and of regenerating plants having substantially the same genotype asother plants of the line. Examples of some of the physiological andmorphological characteristics of the line RS 08061277 include thosetraits set forth in the tables herein. The regenerable cells in suchtissue cultures may be derived, for example, from embryos, meristems,cotyledons, pollen, leaves, anthers, roots, root tips, pistil, flower,seed and stalks. Still further, the present invention provides beanplants regenerated from a tissue culture of the invention, the plantshaving all the physiological and morphological characteristics of lineRS 08061277.

In yet another aspect of the invention, processes are provided forproducing bean seeds, plants and pods, which processes generallycomprise crossing a first parent bean plant with a second parent beanplant, wherein at least one of the first or second parent bean plants isa plant of the line designated RS 08061277. These processes may befurther exemplified as processes for preparing hybrid bean seed orplants, wherein a first bean plant is crossed with a second bean plantof a different, distinct line to provide a hybrid that has, as one ofits parents, the bean plant line RS 08061277. In these processes,crossing will result in the production of seed. The seed productionoccurs regardless of whether the seed is collected or not.

In one embodiment of the invention, the first step in “crossing”comprises planting seeds of a first and second parent bean plant, oftenin proximity so that pollination will occur for example, mediated byinsect vectors. Alternatively, pollen can be transferred manually. Wherethe plant is self-pollinated, pollination may occur without the need fordirect human intervention other than plant cultivation.

A second step may comprise cultivating or growing the seeds of first andsecond parent bean plants into plants that bear flowers. A third stepmay comprise preventing self-pollination of the plants, such as byemasculating the male portions of flowers, (i.e., treating ormanipulating the flowers to produce an emasculated parent bean plant).

A fourth step for a hybrid cross may comprise cross-pollination betweenthe first and second parent bean plants. Yet another step comprisesharvesting the seeds from at least one of the parent bean plants. Theharvested seed can be grown to produce a bean plant or hybrid beanplant.

The present invention also provides the bean seeds and plants producedby a process that comprises crossing a first parent bean plant with asecond parent bean plant, wherein at least one of the first or secondparent bean plants is a plant of the line designated RS 08061277. In oneembodiment of the invention, bean seed and plants produced by theprocess are first generation (F₁) hybrid bean seed and plants producedby crossing a plant in accordance with the invention with another,distinct plant. The present invention further contemplates plant partsof such an F₁ hybrid bean plant, and methods of use thereof. Therefore,certain exemplary embodiments of the invention provide an F₁ hybrid beanplant and seed thereof.

In still yet another aspect of the invention, the genetic complement ofthe bean plant line designated RS 08061277 is provided. The phrase“genetic complement” is used to refer to the aggregate of nucleotidesequences, the expression of which sequences defines the phenotype of,in the present case, a bean plant, or a cell or tissue of that plant. Agenetic complement thus represents the genetic makeup of a cell, tissueor plant, and a hybrid genetic complement represents the genetic make upof a hybrid cell, tissue or plant. The invention thus provides beanplant cells that have a genetic complement in accordance with the beanplant cells disclosed herein, and plants, seeds and plants containingsuch cells.

Plant genetic complements may be assessed by genetic marker profiles,and by the expression of phenotypic traits that are characteristic ofthe expression of the genetic complement, e.g., isozyme typing profiles.It is understood that line RS 08061277 could be identified by any of themany well known techniques such as, for example, Simple Sequence LengthPolymorphisms (SSLPs) (Williams et al., Nucleic Acids Res., 18:6531-6535, 1990), Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNAs (RAPDs), DNAAmplification Fingerprinting (DAF), Sequence Characterized AmplifiedRegions (SCARs), Arbitrary Primed Polymerase Chain Reaction (AP-PCR),Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphisms (AFLPs) (EP 534 858,specifically incorporated herein by reference in its entirety), andSingle Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) (Wang et al., Science,280:1077-1082, 1998).

In still yet another aspect, the present invention provides hybridgenetic complements, as represented by bean plant cells, tissues,plants, and seeds, formed by the combination of a haploid geneticcomplement of a bean plant of the invention with a haploid geneticcomplement of a second bean plant, preferably, another, distinct beanplant. In another aspect, the present invention provides a bean plantregenerated from a tissue culture that comprises a hybrid geneticcomplement of this invention.

In still yet another aspect, the invention provides a plant of an inbredbean line that exhibits a combination of traits including good yield,medium-late maturity, small pod diameter and dark green and glossy podcolor. In certain embodiments, the trait may be defined as controlled bygenetic means for the expression of the trait found in bean line RS08061277.

In still yet another aspect, the invention provides a method ofdetermining the genotype of a plant of bean line RS 08061277 comprisingdetecting in the genome of the plant at least a first polymorphism. Themethod may, in certain embodiments, comprise detecting a plurality ofpolymorphisms in the genome of the plant. The method may furthercomprise storing the results of the step of detecting the plurality ofpolymorphisms on a computer readable medium. The invention furtherprovides a computer readable medium produced by such a method.

In still yet another aspect, the present invention provides a method ofproducing a plant derived from line RS 08061277, the method comprisingthe steps of: (a) preparing a progeny plant derived from line RS08061277, wherein said preparing comprises crossing a plant of the lineRS 08061277 with a second plant; and (b) crossing the progeny plant withitself or a second plant to produce a seed of a progeny plant of asubsequent generation. In further embodiments, the method mayadditionally comprise: (c) growing a progeny plant of a subsequentgeneration from said seed of a progeny plant of a subsequent generationand crossing the progeny plant of a subsequent generation with itself ora second plant; and repeating the steps for an additional 3-10generations to produce a plant derived from line RS 08061277. The plantderived from line RS 08061277 may be an inbred line, and theaforementioned repeated crossing steps may be defined as comprisingsufficient inbreeding to produce the inbred line. In the method, it maybe desirable to select particular plants resulting from step (c) forcontinued crossing according to steps (b) and (c). By selecting plantshaving one or more desirable traits, a plant derived from line RS08061277 is obtained which possesses some of the desirable traits of theline as well as potentially other selected traits.

In certain embodiments, the present invention provides a method ofproducing beans comprising: (a) obtaining a plant of bean line RS08061277, wherein the plant has been cultivated to maturity, and (b)collecting beans from the plant.

These and other features and advantages of this invention are describedin, or are apparent from, the following detailed description of variousexemplary embodiments of the devices and methods according to thisinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention provides methods and compositions relating to plants,seeds and derivatives of the bean line designated RS 08061277. This lineshows uniformity and stability within the limits of environmentalinfluence for the traits described hereinafter. Bean line RS 08061277provides sufficient seed yield. By crossing with a distinct secondplant, uniform F1 hybrid progeny can be obtained.

Variety RS 08061277, also known as TIMGAD and RX 08061277, is a Gardenbean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) variety.

A. Origin and Breeding History of RS 08061277

The crossing and selections that led directly to RS 08061277 can besummarized as follows:

RS 08061277 was developed by pedigree selection in Wageningen, TheNetherlands. It originates from a hand pollinated cross between twobreeding lines owned by Seminis Vegetable Seeds.

Female parent (A): 03/D283; F7 breeding line from the original crossCadillac×Sam: Mid late maturing, high yielding, medium large poddiameter, 11 cm long pods, medium dark green pods, resistant to HaloBlight. (Cadillac: Seminis Vegetable Seeds, Inc.—US PVP No. 200400267);(Sam: Holland Select).

Male parent (B): 03/15283, F5 breeding line from the original crossPrelude×RS1290: Early maturing, large pod diameter, 12-13 cm long pods,medium light pod color. (Prelude and RS 1290: Royal Sluis, today part ofMonsanto).

The initial cross was made in the greenhouse in the fall of 2003. After8 generations of selfing and pedigree selection, a line was selectedthat combined the yield, a pod length of 11-12 cm and a slow seeddevelopment.

The selection scheme was as follows:

YEAR SEASON GENERATION DESCRIPTION 1 Fall A × B Cross made 2 Spring F1Increase, 500 seeds harvested in bulk 04/11297 2 Summer F2 Planted allseeds from bulk 02/11297 in the field. 59 plants were selected foruniform pod setting and desired pod color. They were harvested as singleplant selections. 2 Winter F3 All 59 single plant selections planted at45 seeds per progeny. 1 line at stake 4958, originating from singleplant #34 was selected for its uniform pod set and good plant habit andharvested in bulk. 3 Summer F4 Planted family 05/4958 in the selectionfield in Wageningen using 5 × 120 plants per family. Selected 25 singleplants from this family at stake number 05D616, and harvested themseparately. 3 Fall F5 Planted all 25 single plants in the greenhouse at4 plants per line. Harvested as single plants 3 Winter F5 Planted all 25single plant selections from 05D616 at 45 seeds per progeny. The line atstake 5408, originating from single plant #9 was selected. All plantshave been harvested in bulk. 4 Spring F6 Planted the 4 single plantsfrom plot 05/18282 - originating from line 05/616-9 in the greenhouse at3 plants per line. Harvested as single plants 4 Summer F6 Planted family06/5408 in the selection field in Wageningen using 5 × 120 plants perfamily. 8 × 120 seeds from the same bulk were used for yield performancetrials in Northern France. This family was identified as very good forits yield and flexibility. It has not been harvested for seed. 4 SummerF7 Planted the 12 single plant selections from the greenhouse springcrop at 45 plants each. Selected the line at stake# 18661, originatingfrom plant #3, for its excellent pod quality and set. This line wascoded as RS 08061277. Harvested bulk and 6 single plants from this line.Only this seed has been used for increases. 4 Winter F8 Planted all 6single plants from 06/18661 in the field in Chile at 45 seeds per line.These six lines were uniform and stable. Seed of each of them has beenharvested for trialing. 5 Spring F8 Planted the 6 single plants from06/18661 in the greenhouse at 20 plants per line. Harvested all 120plants separately. Handed the seed of these 120 lines off to FoundationSeed. 5 Summer F8 Evaluated family 06/18661 (RS 08061277) at varioussites in The Netherlands and France. It confirmed its good performance.6 Summer F9 Planted all 120 lines from the greenhouse in the FoundationSeed field at 80 seeds per line. The lines proved to be stable anduniform for all described traits. No off types or variants were found.The 120 lines were then bulked. This bulk was used for further increaseand multiplication.

Observations during three generations multiplication and increases attwo sites, indicate that RS 08061277 is uniform and stable forcharacteristics including but not limited to plant habit, maturity, podtype, disease resistance and other horticultural and agronomiccharacteristics. As is true with other garden beans, a very smallpercentage of mutations for oval pods or string may occur duringrepeated multiplication. RS 08061277 is within the commerciallyacceptable limits of 0.1% (for oval pods) and 0.01% (for string) forthis type of mutation. No genetic variants have been observed or areexpected to occur in future generations of RS 08061277.

B. Physiological and Morphological Characteristics of Bean Line RS08061277

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a plant having the physiological and morphologicalcharacteristics of bean line RS 08061277. A description of thephysiological and morphological characteristics of bean line RS 08061277is presented in Table 1.

TABLE 1 Physiological and Morphological Characteristics of Line RS08061277 Characteristic RS 08061277 (Timgad) RS 08051272 (Bartava) 1.Type Garden Garden 2. Market Maturity days to edible pods 77 72 numberof days later than  5 the comparison variety 3. Plant number ofcentimeters 8 cm 8 cm spacing between plants in a row habit determinatedeterminate plant height (in 50 cm 47 cm centimeters) number ofcentimeters 3 cm taller than the comparison variety plant spread (width)in 46 cm 44 cm centimeters number of centimeters 2 cm wider than thecomparison variety pod position scattered scattered bush form sphericalbush form spherical bush form growth type dwarf [Callide (D), dwarf[Callide (D), Capitole (D)] Capitole (D)] dwarf beans only: plantnon-trailing [Callide (D), non-trailing [Callide (D), type Capitole (D)]Capitole (D)] dwarf beans only: plant medium [Fori (D)] medium [Fori(D)] height 4. Leaves surface indeterminate indeterminate size mediummedium color medium green dark green (as dark or darker than Bush BlueLake 290) intensity of green color medium [Fori (D), Valja dark [Dubra(D), (at the time of full (D)] Goldfish (D), Silvia (C)] flowering)rugosity weak [Goldfish (D), medium [Butterzart (D), (at the time offull Groffy (D), Record (C), Filetty (D), Fori (D), flowering) Valja(D)] Neckarkönigin (C)] terminal leaflet: size medium [Prelude (D)]medium [Prelude (D)] (at the time of full flowering) terminal leaflet:shape circular to rhombic [Calas circular to rhombic (at the time offull (D), Capitole (D), Dorabel [Calas (D), Capitole (D), flowering)(D)] Dorabel (D)] terminal leaflet: length of long [Flo (D), Nerina (D),long [Flo (D), Nerina tip (at the time of full Prelude (D)] (D), Prelude(D)] flowering) dwarf beans only: intermediate [Tuf (D), intermediate[Tuf (D), inflorescences: position Valja (D)] Valja (D)] (at fullflowering) plant: anthocyanin absent [Tuf (D)] absent [Tuf (D)]coloration of hypocotyl 5. Anthocyanin Pigment: flowers absent absentleaves absent absent stems absent absent petioles absent absent podsabsent absent peduncles absent absent seeds absent absent nodes absentabsent 6. Flower size of bracts large [Juni (D), Label (D), medium[Meicy (C), Pfälzer Toplong (C)] Torrina (D)] color of standard white[Tuf (D)] white [Tuf (D)] color of wings white [Tuf (D)] white [Tuf (D)]color of keel white white number of days to 50% 56 54 bloom 7. Podsexterior color (fresh) (at medium green medium green edible maturity)processed pods (exterior dark (Bush Blue Lake light (Tender Crop) color)(at edible maturity) 290) dry pod color (at edible buckskin (Sprite)buckskin (Sprite) maturity) dwarf beans only: Pod medium [Amity (D),medium [Amity (D), length (excluding beak) (at Luisa (D)[ Luisa (D)[ thetime of fresh market maturity) width (at the time of fresh medium [Meicy(C), medium [Meicy (C), market maturity) Regulex (D)] Regulex (D)]thickness (at the time of medium [Impact (D), medium [Impact (D), freshmarket maturity) Flagrano (D), Donna (C)] Flagrano (D), Donna (C)] ratiothickness/width (at medium [Tuf (D)] medium [Tuf (D)] the time of freshmarket maturity) shape in cross section circular or round circular orround (through seed in middle of pod) (at the time of fresh marketmaturity) crease back absent absent pubescence none (Slenderette) none(Slenderette) constriction (interlocular moderate moderate cavitation)at dry seed stage spur length 13 mm 16 mm fiber sparse sparse number ofseeds per pod  7  7 stringiness of ventral absent [Cabri (D), Tuf absent[Cabri (D), Tuf suture (at the time of fresh (D)] (D)] market maturity)seed development slow (Bush Blue Lake medium 290) machine harvestadapted adapted percent sieve size distribution at optimum maturity fornon-flat pods 7.34 to 8.34 10% 8.34 to 9.53 mm 25% 9.53 to 10.72 mm 65%3 Sieve 11 cm length; 8 mm 12 cm length; 8 mm width; 8 total mm width; 8total mm thickness thickness 4 Sieve 11.5 cm length; 9.1 mm 12.5 cmlength; 9.2 mm width; 9.1 total mm width; 9.2 total mm thicknessthickness 5 Sieve 12 cm length; 10.2 mm 13 cm length; 10.5 mm width;10.2 total mm width; 10.5 total mm thickness thickness ground color (atthe time green [Diva (D), Filetty green [Diva (D), Filetty of freshmarket maturity) (D), Fortissima (C)] (D), Fortissima (C)] intensity ofground color medium [Gabriella (D), medium [Gabriella (D), (at the timeof fresh Filetty (D), Prelude (D)] Filetty (D), Prelude (D)] marketmaturity) presence of secondary absent [Tuf (D)] absent [Tuf (D)] color(at the dry seed stage) degree of curvature (at the absent or veryslight weak [Nerina (D)] time of fresh market maturity) shape ofcurvature (at the convex (Calima (D)] concave (Calima (D)] time of freshmarket maturity) shape of distal part acute to truncate [Faria truncate[Afrio (D), (excluding beak) (at the (D), Aguille vert (D)] Alcade (D),Divel (D)] time of fresh market maturity) length of beak (at the timemedium [Goldfish (D), medium [Goldfish (D), of fresh market maturity)Optimus (D)] Optimus (D)] curvature of beak (at the weak [Nerina (D)]medium time of fresh market maturity) texture of surface (at the smoothor slightly rough smooth or slightly rough time of fresh market [Prelude(D), Tuf (D)] [Prelude (D), Tuf (D)] maturity) 8. Seed seed: weight low[Belfin (D), Ingo (D)] medium [Duplika (D), Juwagold (C), Konservenstolz(D)] seed color: seed coat luster semi-shiny dull seed color: seed coatmonochrome monochrome seed: number of colors (of one one dry harvestedseed) main/primary color white white (largest area) (of dry harvestedseed) seed coat pattern solid solid seed: veining (of dry weak [Prelude(D), Ryco medium [Loma (D)] harvested seed) (D)] seed color: hilar ringabsent absent 9. Seed Shape and Size hilum view oval oval side view ovalto oblong oval to oblong seed: shape in elliptic [Nerina (D), Proselliptic [Nerina (D), Pros longitudinal section (of (D), Tuf (D)] (D),Tuf (D)] dry harvested seed) seed: shape in cross circular [Pactol (D),circular [Pactol (D), section (of dry harvested Romulus (D), Stamel (D)]Romulus (D), Stamel seed) (D)] seed: width in cross medium mediumsection (of dry harvested seed) seed: length (of dry short [Raba (D)]medium [Nigeria (D)] harvested seed) gm/100 seeds, grams per 18.5 gm25.9 gm 100 seeds gm/100 seeds, grams per 7.4 gm 100 seeds lighter thanthe comparison variety time of flowering (50% of medium [Fanion (D),medium [Fanion (D), the plants with at least one Groffy (D), Hilda (C),Groffy (D), Hilda (C), flower) Precores (C)] Precores (C)] *These aretypical values. Values may vary due to environment. Other values thatare substantially equivalent are within the scope of the invention.

C. Breeding Bean Line RS 08061277

One aspect of the current invention concerns methods for crossing thebean line RS 08061277 with itself or a second plant and the seeds andplants produced by such methods. These methods can be used forpropagation of line RS 08061277, or can be used to produce hybrid beanseeds and the plants grown therefrom. Hybrid seeds are produced bycrossing line RS 08061277 with second bean parent line.

The development of new varieties using one or more starting varieties iswell known in the art. In accordance with the invention, novel varietiesmay be created by crossing line RS 08061277 followed by multiplegenerations of breeding according to such well known methods. Newvarieties may be created by crossing with any second plant. In selectingsuch a second plant to cross for the purpose of developing novel lines,it may be desired to choose those plants which either themselves exhibitone or more selected desirable characteristics or which exhibit thedesired characteristic(s) in progeny. Once initial crosses have beenmade, inbreeding and selection take place to produce new varieties. Fordevelopment of a uniform line, often five or more generations of selfingand selection are involved.

Uniform lines of new varieties may also be developed by way ofdouble-haploids. This technique allows the creation of true breedinglines without the need for multiple generations of selfing andselection. In this manner, true breeding lines can be produced in aslittle as one generation. Haploid embryos may be produced frommicrospores, pollen, anther cultures, or ovary cultures. The haploidembryos may then be doubled autonomously, or by chemical treatments(e.g. colchicine treatment). Alternatively, haploid embryos may be growninto haploid plants and treated to induce chromosome doubling. In eithercase, fertile homozygous plants are obtained. In accordance with theinvention, any of such techniques may be used in connection with line RS08061277 and progeny thereof to achieve a homozygous line.

New varieties may be created, for example, by crossing line RS 08061277with any second plant and selection of progeny in various generationsand/or by doubled haploid technology. In choosing a second plant tocross for the purpose of developing novel lines, it may be desired tochoose those plants which either themselves exhibit one or more selecteddesirable characteristics or which exhibit the desired characteristic(s)in progeny. After one or more lines are crossed, true-breeding lines maybe developed.

Backcrossing can also be used to improve an inbred plant. Backcrossingtransfers a specific desirable trait from one inbred or non-inbredsource to an inbred that lacks that trait. This can be accomplished, forexample, by first crossing a superior inbred (A) (recurrent parent) to adonor inbred (non-recurrent parent), which carries the appropriate locusor loci for the trait in question. The progeny of this cross are thenmated back to the superior recurrent parent (A) followed by selection inthe resultant progeny for the desired trait to be transferred from thenon-recurrent parent. After five or more backcross generations withselection for the desired trait, the progeny are heterozygous for locicontrolling the characteristic being transferred, but are like thesuperior parent for most or almost all other loci. The last backcrossgeneration would be selfed to give pure breeding progeny for the traitbeing transferred.

The line of the present invention is particularly well suited for thedevelopment of new lines based on the elite nature of the geneticbackground of the line. In selecting a second plant to cross with RS08061277 for the purpose of developing novel bean lines, it willtypically be preferred to choose those plants which either themselvesexhibit one or more selected desirable characteristics or which exhibitthe desired characteristic(s) when in hybrid combination. Examples ofdesirable characteristics may include, for example, seed yield, seedsize, seed shape, seed uniformity, pod size, pod shape, pod color, poduniformity, early maturity, disease resistance, herbicide tolerance,seedling vigor, adaptability for soil conditions, adaptability forclimate conditions, and uniform plant height.

D. Performance Characteristics

Performance characteristics of the line RS 08061277 were the subject ofan objective analysis of the performance traits of the line relative toother lines. Results from the analysis are presented in Table 2.

TABLE 2 Performance characteristics comparison between RS 08061277 andComparative varieties. Variety Trial no FINAL PLSTD PDSET PDUNF PDQLTYLDMHMT PAULISTA 5 4.8 5.4 5 4.4 5.2 9.2 RIVERGARO 2 7 5 2 5.5 3.5 5.5RS 08061277 7 4 3.3 7 3.9 3.9 11.1 STANLEY 2 5.5 3 2 5.5 3.5 9 GrandTotal 16 4.8 4.1 16 4.4 4.2 9.6 PLSTD: Plant standability in the field(indication for sturdiness of plant) PDSET: Pod set PDUNF: Poduniformity PDQLT: Pod quality YLDMHMT: Yield machine harvest in metrictons/hectare

E. Further Embodiments of the Invention

In certain aspects of the invention, plants described herein areprovided modified to include at least a first desired heritable trait.Such plants may, in one embodiment, be developed by a plant breedingtechnique called backcrossing, wherein essentially all of themorphological and physiological characteristics of a variety arerecovered in addition to a genetic locus transferred into the plant viathe backcrossing technique. The term single locus converted plant asused herein refers to those bean plants which are developed by a plantbreeding technique called backcrossing, wherein essentially all of thedesired morphological and physiological characteristics of a variety arerecovered in addition to the single locus transferred into the varietyvia the backcrossing technique.

Backcrossing methods can be used with the present invention to improveor introduce a characteristic into the present variety. The parentalbean plant which contributes the locus for the desired characteristic istermed the nonrecurrent or donor parent. This terminology refers to thefact that the nonrecurrent parent is used one time in the backcrossprotocol and therefore does not recur. The parental bean plant to whichthe locus or loci from the nonrecurrent parent are transferred is knownas the recurrent parent as it is used for several rounds in thebackcrossing protocol.

In a typical backcross protocol, the original variety of interest(recurrent parent) is crossed to a second variety (nonrecurrent parent)that carries the single locus of interest to be transferred. Theresulting progeny from this cross are then crossed again to therecurrent parent and the process is repeated until a bean plant isobtained wherein essentially all of the desired morphological andphysiological characteristics of the recurrent parent are recovered inthe converted plant, in addition to the single transferred locus fromthe nonrecurrent parent.

The selection of a suitable recurrent parent is an important step for asuccessful backcrossing procedure. The goal of a backcross protocol isto alter or substitute a single trait or characteristic in the originalvariety. To accomplish this, a single locus of the recurrent variety ismodified or substituted with the desired locus from the nonrecurrentparent, while retaining essentially all of the rest of the desiredgenetic, and therefore the desired physiological and morphologicalconstitution of the original variety. The choice of the particularnonrecurrent parent will depend on the purpose of the backcross; one ofthe major purposes is to add some commercially desirable trait to theplant. The exact backcrossing protocol will depend on the characteristicor trait being altered and the genetic distance between the recurrentand nonrecurrent parents. Although backcrossing methods are simplifiedwhen the characteristic being transferred is a dominant allele, arecessive allele may also be transferred. In this instance it may benecessary to introduce a test of the progeny to determine if the desiredcharacteristic has been successfully transferred.

In one embodiment, progeny bean plants of a backcross in which RS08061277 is the recurrent parent comprise (i) the desired trait from thenon-recurrent parent and (ii) all of the physiological and morphologicalcharacteristics of bean line RS 08061277 as determined at the 5%significance level when grown in the same environmental conditions.

Bean varieties can also be developed from more than two parents. Thetechnique, known as modified backcrossing, uses different recurrentparents during the backcrossing. Modified backcrossing may be used toreplace the original recurrent parent with a variety having certain moredesirable characteristics or multiple parents may be used to obtaindifferent desirable characteristics from each.

With the development of molecular markers associated with particulartraits, it is possible to add additional traits into an established germline, such as represented here, with the end result being substantiallythe same base germplasm with the addition of a new trait or traits.Molecular breeding, as described in Moose and Mumm, 2008 (PlantPhysiology, 147: 969-977), for example, and elsewhere, provides amechanism for integrating single or multiple traits or QTL into an eliteline. This molecular breeding-facilitated movement of a trait or traitsinto an elite line may encompass incorporation of a particular genomicfragment associated with a particular trait of interest into the eliteline by the mechanism of identification of the integrated genomicfragment with the use of flanking or associated marker assays. In theembodiment represented here, one, two, three or four genomic loci, forexample, may be integrated into an elite line via this methodology. Whenthis elite line containing the additional loci is further crossed withanother parental elite line to produce hybrid offspring, it is possibleto then incorporate at least eight separate additional loci into thehybrid. These additional loci may confer, for example, such traits as adisease resistance or a fruit quality trait. In one embodiment, eachlocus may confer a separate trait. In another embodiment, loci may needto be homozygous and exist in each parent line to confer a trait in thehybrid. In yet another embodiment, multiple loci may be combined toconfer a single robust phenotype of a desired trait.

Many single locus traits have been identified that are not regularlyselected for in the development of a new inbred but that can be improvedby backcrossing techniques. Single locus traits may or may not betransgenic; examples of these traits include, but are not limited to,male sterility, herbicide resistance, resistance to bacterial, fungal,or viral disease, insect resistance, restoration of male fertility,modified fatty acid or carbohydrate metabolism, and enhanced nutritionalquality. These comprise genes generally inherited through the nucleus.

Direct selection may be applied where the single locus acts as adominant trait. An example of a dominant trait is the anthracnoseresistance trait. For this selection process, the progeny of the initialcross are sprayed with anthracnose spores prior to the backcrossing. Thespraying eliminates any plants which do not have the desired anthracnoseresistance characteristic, and only those plants which have theanthracnose resistance gene are used in the subsequent backcross. Thisprocess is then repeated for all additional backcross generations.

Selection of bean plants for breeding is not necessarily dependent onthe phenotype of a plant and instead can be based on geneticinvestigations. For example, one can utilize a suitable genetic markerwhich is closely genetically linked to a trait of interest. One of thesemarkers can be used to identify the presence or absence of a trait inthe offspring of a particular cross, and can be used in selection ofprogeny for continued breeding. This technique is commonly referred toas marker assisted selection. Any other type of genetic marker or otherassay which is able to identify the relative presence or absence of atrait of interest in a plant can also be useful for breeding purposes.Procedures for marker assisted selection applicable to the breeding ofbean are well known in the art. Such methods will be of particularutility in the case of recessive traits and variable phenotypes, orwhere conventional assays may be more expensive, time consuming orotherwise disadvantageous. Types of genetic markers which could be usedin accordance with the invention include, but are not necessarilylimited to, Simple Sequence Length Polymorphisms (SSLPs) (Williams etal., Nucleic Acids Res., 1 8:6531-6535, 1990), Randomly AmplifiedPolymorphic DNAs (RAPDs), DNA Amplification Fingerprinting (DAF),Sequence Characterized Amplified Regions (SCARs), Arbitrary PrimedPolymerase Chain Reaction (AP-PCR), Amplified Fragment LengthPolymorphisms (AFLPs) (EP 534 858, specifically incorporated herein byreference in its entirety), and Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs)(Wang et al., Science, 280:1077-1082, 1998).

F. Plants Derived From Bean Line RS 08061277 by Genetic Engineering

Many useful traits that can be introduced by backcrossing, as well asdirectly into a plant, are those which are introduced by genetictransformation techniques. Genetic transformation may therefore be usedto insert a selected transgene into the bean line of the invention ormay, alternatively, be used for the preparation of transgenes which canbe introduced by backcrossing. Methods for the transformation of plants,including bean, are well known to those of skill in the art. Techniqueswhich may be employed for the genetic transformation of bean include,but are not limited to, electroporation, microprojectile bombardment,Agrobacterium-mediated transformation and direct DNA uptake byprotoplasts.

As is well known in the art, tissue culture of bean can be used for thein vitro regeneration of a bean plant. Tissue culture of various tissuesof beans and regeneration of plants there from is well known. Forexample, reference may be had to McClean and Grafton (Plant Sci.,60:117-122, 1989); Mergeai and Baudoin (B.I.C. Invit. Papers,33:115-116, 1990); Vanderwesthuizen and Groenewald (S. Afr. J. Bot.,56:271-273, 1990); Benedicic et al. (Plant Cell Tissue Org. Cult.,24:199-206, 1990); Malik and Saxena (Planta, 184(1):148-150, 1991).

To effect transformation by electroporation, one may employ eitherfriable tissues, such as a suspension culture of cells or embryogeniccallus or alternatively one may transform immature embryos or otherorganized tissue directly. In this technique, one would partiallydegrade the cell walls of the chosen cells by exposing them topectin-degrading enzymes (pectolyases) or mechanically wound tissues ina controlled manner.

A particularly efficient method for delivering transforming DNA segmentsto plant cells is microprojectile bombardment. In this method, particlesare coated with nucleic acids and delivered into cells by a propellingforce. Exemplary particles include those comprised of tungsten,platinum, and preferably, gold. For the bombardment, cells in suspensionare concentrated on filters or solid culture medium. Alternatively,immature embryos or other target cells may be arranged on solid culturemedium. The cells to be bombarded are positioned at an appropriatedistance below the macroprojectile stopping plate.

An illustrative embodiment of a method for delivering DNA into plantcells by acceleration is the Biolistics Particle Delivery System, whichcan be used to propel particles coated with DNA or cells through ascreen, such as a stainless steel or Nytex screen, onto a surfacecovered with target bean cells. The screen disperses the particles sothat they are not delivered to the recipient cells in large aggregates.It is believed that a screen intervening between the projectileapparatus and the cells to be bombarded reduces the size of projectilesaggregate and may contribute to a higher frequency of transformation byreducing the damage inflicted on the recipient cells by projectiles thatare too large.

Microprojectile bombardment techniques are widely applicable, and may beused to transform virtually any plant species. For example, Russell etal. (Plant Cell Reports, 12(3):165-169, 1993).

Agrobacterium-mediated transfer is another widely applicable system forintroducing gene loci into plant cells. An advantage of the technique isthat DNA can be introduced into whole plant tissues, thereby bypassingthe need for regeneration of an intact plant from a protoplast. ModernAgrobacterium transformation vectors are capable of replication in E.coli as well as Agrobacterium, allowing for convenient manipulations(Klee et al., Bio-Technology, 3(7):637-642, 1985). Moreover, recenttechnological advances in vectors for Agrobacterium-mediated genetransfer have improved the arrangement of genes and restriction sites inthe vectors to facilitate the construction of vectors capable ofexpressing various polypeptide coding genes. The vectors described haveconvenient multi-linker regions flanked by a promoter and apolyadenylation site for direct expression of inserted polypeptidecoding genes. Additionally, Agrobacterium containing both armed anddisarmed Ti genes can be used for transformation.

In those plant strains where Agrobacterium-mediated transformation isefficient, it is the method of choice because of the facile and definednature of the gene locus transfer. The use of Agrobacterium-mediatedplant integrating vectors to introduce DNA into plant cells is wellknown in the art (Fraley et al., Bio/Technology, 3:629-635, 1985; U.S.Pat. No. 5,563,055). Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of P.vulgaris is described in, for example, Zhang et al. (J. American Soc.Horticul. Sci., 122(3):300-305, 1997); McClean et al. (Plant Cell Tiss.Org. Cult., 24:131-138, 1991); Lewis and Bliss (J. American Soc.Horticul. Sci., 119:361-366, 1994); and Song et al. (J. Plant Physiol.,146:148-154, 1995).

Transformation of plant protoplasts also can be achieved using methodsbased on calcium phosphate precipitation, polyethylene glycol treatment,electroporation, and combinations of these treatments (see, e.g.,Potrykus et al., Mol. Gen. Genet., 199:183-188, 1985; Omirulleh et al.,Plant Mol. Biol., 21(3):415-428, 1993; Fromm et al., Nature,312:791-793, 1986; Uchimiya et al., Mol. Gen. Genet., 204:204, 1986;Marcotte et al., Nature, 335:454, 1988). Transformation of plants andexpression of foreign genetic elements is exemplified in Choi et al.(Plant Cell Rep., 13: 344-348, 1994), and Ellul et al. (Theor. Appl.Genet., 107:462-469, 2003).

A number of promoters have utility for plant gene expression for anygene of interest including but not limited to selectable markers,scoreable markers, genes for pest tolerance, disease resistance,nutritional enhancements and any other gene of agronomic interest.Examples of constitutive promoters useful for garden bean plant geneexpression include, but are not limited to, the cauliflower mosaic virus(CaMV) P-35S promoter, which confers constitutive, high-level expressionin most plant tissues (see, e.g., Odel et al., Nature, 313:810, 1985),including monocots (see, e.g., Dekeyser et al., Plant Cell, 2:591, 1990;Terada and Shimamoto, Mol. Gen. Genet., 220:389, 1990); a tandemlyduplicated version of the CaMV 35S promoter, the enhanced 35S promoter(P-e35S) the nopaline synthase promoter (An et al., Plant Physiol.,88:547, 1988), the octopine synthase promoter (Fromm et al., Plant Cell,1:977, 1989); and the figwort mosaic virus (P-FMV) promoter as describedin U.S. Pat. No. 5,378,619 and an enhanced version of the FMV promoter(P-eFMV) where the promoter sequence of P-FMV is duplicated in tandem,the cauliflower mosaic virus 19S promoter, a sugarcane bacilliform viruspromoter, a commelina yellow mottle virus promoter, and other plant DNAvirus promoters known to express in plant cells.

With an inducible promoter the rate of transcription increases inresponse to an inducing agent. Any inducible promoter can be used in theinstant invention. A variety of plant gene promoters that are regulatedin response to environmental, hormonal, chemical, and/or developmentalsignals can be used for expression of an operably linked gene in plantcells, including promoters regulated by (1) heat (Callis et al., PlantPhysiol., 88:965, 1988), (2) light (e.g., pea rbcS-3A promoter,Kuhlemeier et al., Plant Cell, 1:471, 1989; maize rbcS promoter,Schaffner and Sheen, Plant Cell, 3:997, 1991; or chlorophyll a/b-bindingprotein promoter, Simpson et al., EMBO J., 4:2723, 1985), (3) hormones,such as abscisic acid (Marcotte et al., Plant Cell, 1:969, 1989), (4)wounding (e.g., wunl, Siebertz et al., Plant Cell, 1:961, 1989); or (5)chemicals such as methyl jasmonate, salicylic acid, or Safener. It mayalso be advantageous to employ organ-specific promoters (e.g., Roshal etal., EMBO J., 6:1155, 1987; Schernthaner et al., EMBO J., 7:1249, 1988;Bustos et al., Plant Cell, 1:839, 1989). Exemplary organ-specific ororgan-preferred promoters include, but are not limited to, aroot-preferred promoter, such as that from the phaseolin gene(Sengupta-Gopalan et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 82:3320-3324,1985); a leaf-specific and light-induced promoter such as that from cabor rubisco (Simpson et al., EMBO J., 4:2723, 1985) and Timko et al.,Nature, 318:579-582, 1985); an anther-specific promoter such as thatfrom LAT52 (Twell et al., Mol. Gen. Genetics, 217:240-245, 1989); apollen-specific promoter such as that from Zm13 (Guerrero et al., Mol.Gen. Genetics, 244:161-168, 1993) or a microspore-preferred promotersuch as that from apg (Twell et al., Sex. Plant Reprod., 6:217-224,1993).

Transport of protein produced by transgenes to a subcellular compartmentsuch as the chloroplast, vacuole, peroxisome, glyoxysome, cell wall, ormitochondrion or for secretion into the apoplast, may be accomplished bymeans of operably linking the nucleotide sequence encoding a signalsequence to the 5′ and/or 3′ region of a gene encoding the protein ofinterest. Targeting sequences at the 5′ and/or 3′ end of the structuralgene may determine, during protein synthesis and processing, where theencoded protein is ultimately compartmentalized. The presence of asignal sequence directs a polypeptide to either an intracellularorganelle or subcellular compartment or for secretion to the apoplast.Many signal sequences are known in the art. See, for example Becker etal. (Plant Mol. Biol., 20:49, 1992); Knox et al. (Plant Mol. Biol.,9:3-17, 1987); Lerner et al. (Plant Physiol., 91:124-129, 1989); Fonteset al. (Plant Cell, 3:483-496, 1991); Matsuoka et al. (Proc. Natl. Acad.Sci. USA, 88:834, 1991); Gould et al. (J. Cell. Biol., 108:1657, 1989);Creissen et al. (Plant J., 2:129, 1991); Kalderon et al. (Cell,39:499-509, 1984); Steifel et al. (Plant Cell, 2:785-793, 1990).

Exemplary nucleic acids which may be introduced to the bean lines ofthis invention include, for example, DNA sequences or genes from anotherspecies, or even genes or sequences which originate with or are presentin the same species, but are incorporated into recipient cells bygenetic engineering methods rather than classical reproduction orbreeding techniques. However, the term “exogenous” is also intended torefer to genes that are not normally present in the cell beingtransformed, or perhaps simply not present in the form, structure, etc.,as found in the transforming DNA segment or gene, or genes which arenormally present and that one desires to express in a manner thatdiffers from the natural expression pattern, e.g., to over-express.Thus, the term “exogenous” gene or DNA is intended to refer to any geneor DNA segment that is introduced into a recipient cell, regardless ofwhether a similar gene may already be present in such a cell. The typeof DNA included in the exogenous DNA can include DNA which is alreadypresent in the plant cell, DNA from another plant, DNA from a differentorganism, or a DNA generated externally, such as a DNA sequencecontaining an antisense message of a gene, or a DNA sequence encoding asynthetic or modified version of a gene.

Many hundreds if not thousands of different genes are known and couldpotentially be introduced into a bean plant according to the invention.Non-limiting examples of particular genes and corresponding phenotypesone may choose to introduce into a bean plant include one or more genesfor insect tolerance, such as a Bacillus thuringiensis (B.t.) gene, pesttolerance such as genes for fungal disease control, herbicide tolerancesuch as genes conferring glyphosate tolerance, and genes for qualityimprovements such as yield, nutritional enhancements, environmental orstress tolerances, or any desirable changes in plant physiology, growth,development, morphology or plant product(s). For example, structuralgenes would include any gene that confers insect tolerance including butnot limited to a Bacillus insect control protein gene as described in WO99/31248, herein incorporated by reference in its entirety, U.S. Pat.No. 5,689,052, herein incorporated by reference in its entirety, U.S.Pat. Nos. 5,500,365 and 5,880,275, herein incorporated by reference ittheir entirety. In another embodiment, the structural gene can confertolerance to the herbicide glyphosate as conferred by genes including,but not limited to Agrobacterium strain CP4 glyphosate resistant EPSPSgene (aroA:CP4) as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,633,435, hereinincorporated by reference in its entirety, or glyphosate oxidoreductasegene (GOX) as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,463,175, herein incorporatedby reference in its entirety.

Alternatively, the DNA coding sequences can affect these phenotypes byencoding a non-translatable RNA molecule that causes the targetedinhibition of expression of an endogenous gene, for example viaantisense- or cosuppression-mediated mechanisms (see, for example, Birdet al., Biotech. Gen. Engin. Rev., 9:207, 1991). The RNA could also be acatalytic RNA molecule (i.e., a ribozyme) engineered to cleave a desiredendogenous mRNA product (see for example, Gibson and Shillito, Mol.Biotech., 7:125, 1997). Thus, any gene which produces a protein or mRNAwhich expresses a phenotype or morphology change of interest is usefulfor the practice of the present invention.

G. Definitions

In the description and tables herein, a number of terms are used. Inorder to provide a clear and consistent understanding of thespecification and claims, the following definitions are provided:

A: When used in conjunction with the word “comprising” or other openlanguage in the claims, the words “a” and “an” denote “one or more.”

Allele: Any of one or more alternative forms of a gene locus, all ofwhich alleles relate to one trait or characteristic. In a diploid cellor organism, the two alleles of a given gene occupy corresponding locion a pair of homologous chromosomes.

Backcrossing: A process in which a breeder repeatedly crosses hybridprogeny, for example a first generation hybrid (F₁), back to one of theparents of the hybrid progeny. Backcrossing can be used to introduce oneor more single locus conversions from one genetic background intoanother.

Bean Yield (Tons/Acre): The recovered yield in tons/acre is the yield ofthe bean pods at harvest versus the means of harvest (hand picked,mechanical harvest).

Broad Adaptation: A cultivar having a broad adaptability means acultivar or selection that will perform well in different growingconditions, locations, and seasons.

Bush Form: A USDA term about the visual look of the plant. A bean plantis: Spherical (even in width and height), Wide when the bush is widerthan tall, High when the bush is taller than wide, or Stem when theindividual branches protrude from the shape.

Concentrated set of pods: A concentrated set of pods is said of a plantwhere a high percentage of all pods on a plant set and mature at thesame time so as to facilitate a single harvest.

Crossing: The mating of two parent plants.

Cross-pollination: Fertilization by the union of two gametes fromdifferent plants.

Determinate plant: A determinate plant will grow to a fixed number ofnodes with a terminal floral raceme on the main stem, while anindeterminate plant continues to grow and never has a terminal floralraceme on the main stem.

Diploid: A cell or organism having two sets of chromosomes.

Dry pod color: The color of dry pods can be Buckskin (a light to palebrown), Salmon (a distinct reddish color), or Green (pale to intense)depending on the expression of the gene for persistent green.

Emasculate: The removal of plant male sex organs or the inactivation ofthe organs with a cytoplasmic or nuclear genetic factor or a chemicalagent conferring male sterility.

Enzymes: Molecules which can act as catalysts in biological reactions.

F₁ Hybrid: The first generation progeny of the cross of two nonisogenicplants.

Field holding ability: A bean plant that has field holding ability meansa plant having pods that remain smooth and retain their color along witha firm fleshy interior as the seed approached physiological maturity.

Genotype: The genetic constitution of a cell or organism.

Haploid: A cell or organism having one set of the two sets ofchromosomes in a diploid.

Linkage: A phenomenon wherein alleles on the same chromosome tend tosegregate together more often than expected by chance if theirtransmission was independent.

Machine or mechanical harvest: A machine harvestable plant means a beanplant from which the pods can be removed from the plant one of severalcommercial mechanical harvesters in such a manner as to reduce brokenpods, clusters, and plant matter from the desired pods.

Marker: A readily detectable phenotype, preferably inherited incodominant fashion (both alleles at a locus in a diploid heterozygoteare readily detectable), with no environmental variance component, i.e.,heritability of 1.

Maturity: A maturity under 53 days is considered early while one between54-59 days would be considered average or medium and one of 60 or moredays would be late.

Maturity Date: Plants are considered mature when the pods have reachedtheir maximum desirable seed size and sieve size for the specific useintended. This can vary for each end user, e.g., processing at differentstages of maturity would be required for different types of consumerbeans such as “whole pack,” “cut” or “French style.” The number of daysis calculated from a relative planting date which depends on day length,heat units and other environmental factors.

Phenotype: The detectable characteristics of a cell or organism, whichcharacteristics are the manifestation of gene expression.

Pod Color: A USDA term where light green color is defined by the varietyProvider and a dark green color by the variety Bush Blue Lake 290.Yellow is defined as color of the wax bean Goldrush.

Pod Position: The pod position is the location of the pods within theplant. The pods can be high (near the top), low (near the bottom), ormedium (in the middle) of the plant, or scattered throughout the plant.

Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL): Quantitative trait loci (QTL) refer togenetic loci that control to some degree numerically representabletraits that are usually continuously distributed.

Regeneration: The development of a plant from tissue culture.

Resistance: As used herein, the terms “resistance” and “tolerance” areused interchangeably to describe plants that show no symptoms to aspecified biotic pest, pathogen, abiotic influence or environmentalcondition. These terms are also used to describe plants showing somesymptoms but that are still able to produce marketable product with anacceptable yield. Some plants that are referred to as resistant ortolerant are only so in the sense that they may still produce a crop,even though the plants are stunted and the yield is reduced.

Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) color chart value: The RHS color chartis a standardized reference which allows accurate identification of anycolor. A color's designation on the chart describes its hue, brightnessand saturation. A color is precisely named by the RHS color chart byidentifying the group name, sheet number and letter, e.g., Yellow-OrangeGroup 19A or Red Group 41B.

Seed development: The rate at which seeds develop as pods reach theirharvest diameter. A slow seed development characteristic will give acultivar its field holding ability, and a larger harvest window.

Self-pollination: The transfer of pollen from the anther to the stigmaof the same plant.

Single Locus Converted (Conversion) Plant: Plants which are developed bya plant breeding technique called backcrossing wherein essentially allof the morphological and physiological characteristics of an inbred arerecovered in addition to the characteristics conferred by the singlelocus transferred into the inbred via the backcrossing technique. By“essentially all,” it is meant that all of the characteristics of aplant are recovered that are otherwise present when compared in the sameenvironment and save for the converted locus, other than an occasionalvariant trait that might arise during backcrossing or directintroduction of a transgene. A single locus may comprise one gene, or inthe case of transgenic plants, one or more transgenes integrated intothe host genome at a single site (locus).

Substantially Equivalent: A characteristic that, when compared, does notshow a statistically significant difference (e.g., p=0.05) from themean.

Tetraploid: A cell or organism having four sets of chromosomes.

Tissue Culture: A composition comprising isolated cells of the same or adifferent type or a collection of such cells organized into parts of aplant.

Transgene: A genetic locus comprising a sequence which has beenintroduced into the genome of a garden bean plant by transformation.

Triploid: A cell or organism having three sets of chromosomes.

H. Deposit Information

A deposit of bean line RS 08061277, disclosed above and recited in theclaims, has been made with the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC),10801 University Blvd., Manassas, Va. 20110-2209, USA, and assigned ATCCAccession No. PTA-12303. The seeds were deposited with the ATCC on Dec.5, 2011. Access to this deposit will be available during the pendency ofthe application to the Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks andpersons determined by the Commissioner to be entitled thereto uponrequest. The deposits will be maintained in the ATCC Depository, whichis a public depository, for a period of 30 years, or 5 years after themost recent request, or for the enforceable life of the patent,whichever is longer, and will be replaced if it becomes nonviable duringthat period. Applicant does not waive rights granted under this patentor under the Plant Variety Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 2321 et seq.).

Although the foregoing invention has been described in detail by way ofillustration and example for purposes of clarity and understanding, itwill be obvious that certain changes and modifications may be practicedwithin the scope of the invention, as limited only by the scope of theappended claims.

All references cited herein are hereby expressly incorporated herein byreference.

What is claimed is:
 1. A seed of bean line RS 08061277, a sample of seedof said line having been deposited under ATCC Accession NumberPTA-12303.
 2. A plant of bean line RS 08061277, a sample of seed of saidline having been deposited under ATCC Accession Number PTA-12303.
 3. Aplant part of the plant of claim
 2. 4. The plant part of claim 3,wherein said part is selected from the group consisting of a pod,pollen, an ovule and a cell.
 5. A bean plant, or a part thereof, havingall the physiological and morphological characteristics of the beanplant of claim
 2. 6. A tissue culture of regenerable cells of bean lineRS 08061277, a sample of seed of said line having been deposited underATCC Accession Number PTA-12303.
 7. The tissue culture according toclaim 6, comprising cells or protoplasts from a plant part selected fromthe group consisting of embryos, meristems, cotyledons, pollen, leaves,anthers, roots, root tips, pistil, flower, seed and stalks.
 8. A beanplant regenerated from the tissue culture of claim 6, wherein theregenerated plant expresses all of the physiological and morphologicalcharacteristics of bean line RS 08061277, a sample of seed of said linehaving been deposited under ATCC Accession Number PTA-12303.
 9. A methodof producing bean seed, comprising crossing the plant of claim 2 withitself or a second bean plant.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein theplant of bean line RS 08061277 is the female parent.
 11. The method ofclaim 9, wherein the plant of bean line RS 08061277 is the male parent.12. An F1 hybrid seed produced by the method of claim
 9. 13. An F1hybrid plant produced by growing the seed of claim
 12. 14. A method forproducing a seed of a line RS 08061277-derived bean plant comprising thesteps of: (a) crossing a bean plant of line RS 08061277 with a secondbean plant, a sample of seed of said line having been deposited underATCC Accession Number PTA-12303; and (b) allowing seed of a RS08061277-derived bean plant to form.
 15. The method of claim 14, furthercomprising the steps of: (c) crossing a plant grown from said RS08061277-derived bean seed with itself or a second bean plant to yieldadditional RS 08061277-derived bean seed; (d) growing said additional RS08061277-derived bean seed of step (c) to yield additional RS08061277-derived bean plants; and (e) repeating the crossing and growingsteps of (c) and (d) to generate further RS 08061277-derived beanplants.
 16. A method of vegetatively propagating a plant of bean line RS08061277 comprising the steps of: (a) collecting tissue capable of beingpropagated from a plant of bean line RS 08061277, a sample of seed ofsaid line having been deposited under ATCC Accession Number PTA-12303;(b) cultivating said tissue to obtain proliferated shoots; and (c)rooting said proliferated shoots to obtain rooted plantlets.
 17. Themethod of claim 16, further comprising growing plants from said rootedplantlets.
 18. A method of introducing a desired trait into bean line RS08061277 comprising: (a) crossing a plant of line RS 08061277 with asecond bean plant that comprises a desired trait to produce F1 progeny,a sample of seed of said line RS 08061277 having been deposited underATCC Accession Number PTA-12303; (b) selecting an F1 progeny thatcomprises the desired trait; (c) crossing the selected F1 progeny with aplant of line RS 08061277 to produce backcross progeny; (d) selectingbackcross progeny comprising the desired trait and the physiological andmorphological characteristic of bean line RS 08061277; and (e) repeatingsteps (c) and (d) three or more times to produce selected fourth orhigher backcross progeny that comprise the desired trait and essentiallyall of the physiological and morphological characteristics of bean lineRS 08061277 when grown in the same environmental conditions.
 19. A beanplant produced by the method of claim
 18. 20. A method of producing aplant of bean line RS 08061277 comprising an added desired trait, themethod comprising introducing a transgene conferring the desired traitinto a plant of bean line RS 08061277, a sample of seed of said line RS08061277 having been deposited under ATCC Accession Number PTA-12303.21. A seed of the plant of claim
 21. 22. A method of producing beanscomprising: (a) obtaining the plant of claim 2, wherein the plant hasbeen cultivated to maturity, and (b) collecting beans from the plant.